Politics

LANSING, Mich.-- Members of the Home Builders Association of Michigan (HBAM) testified in the State House Friday to urge the legislature to find ways to increase the number of workers entering the skilled trades.

“The lack of workers going into the skilled trades is the biggest factor impacting the growth of Michigan’s home building industry,” said John Bitely, president of Sable Homes in Rockford. “The shortage of labor is resulting in construction delays and increased labor costs, and it’s dragging on our state.”

Bitely cited several Michigan laws that make it difficult for home builders to hire young workers and encourage them to look at careers in the construction industry.

WASHINGTON (Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press) – U.S. Rep. Justin Amash of west Michigan — once again — joined the move to dump House Speaker John Boehner as his party's leader in the chamber.

It didn't work: Boehner, R-Ohio, was elected to his third two-year term as House speaker but it didn't come without a a spirited challenge by his critics, including Amash, who joined 27 members who rejected either Boehner or Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as speaker.

Boehner was elected with 216 of 408 votes cast in the 435-member chamber. Pelosi, the former speaker, received 164 Democratic votes. The rest of the votes were split among more than a dozen other names.

Amash was the only one of nine Republican members of Michigan's 14-member delegation to the House to vote against Boehner, a position he announced Tuesday morning on social media.

LANSING, Mich.—State Sen. Mark Jansen tops the list of West Michigan lawmakers who missed the most votes this year, according to the Missed Votes Report compiled by Jack McHugh, editor of MichiganVotes.org.

Jansen missed 46 votes between January and December of this year. The District 28 Republican represents a large portion of Kent County, including Ada, Algoma, Alpine, Cannon, Courtland, Grand Rapids and Plainfield townships, as well as East Grand Rapids, Rockford, Walker and Wyoming.

State Rep. Jon Bumstead, who represents Newaygo, Lake and Oceana counties, had the most missed votes among West Michigan lawmakers in the House, with 21 this year.

Three senators and three representatives missed 50 or more votes this year. The top offenders were Rep. John Olumba of Detroit, with 233 missed votes, and Sen. Bert Johnson of Detroit, with 187 missed votes.

I don't usually get too involved in politics but felt I had to point out the fact that Micigan's present Governor seems to be the only politician that can run a campaign on his merits not by slandering and bullying his oponent. To me, this shows he's a businessman moreso than a politician.

What he says is so true. Anyone who has been in the position Michigan was in a few years ago knows you cannot turn the State around overnight. It's kind of like people who have gained a lot of weight; the weight did not go on overnight so it's going to take time for the weight to drop off with a lot of work and determination.

I for one, admire the campaign Gov Snyder is running and feel he will do all the things he has promised but again, it won't happen overnight and not everyone will agree with his methods.

We can't have our cake and eat it too; there has to be trade-offs for us to get back to the great self-sustaining State of Michigan we used to be.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.—Two men running to represent West Michigan in Congress have agreed to hold public forums.

Congressman Justin Amash and his Democratic contender, businessman Bob Goodrich met over coffee in Eastown Aug. 15. During the brief meeting, both candidates discussed ideas on how best to keep the race for the 3rd Congressional seat civil.

Amash beat East Grand Rapids businessman Brian Ellis by roughly a 14-percent margin during August’s primary. Voters will decide if Amash will continue to represent them during the general election Nov. 4. The Third Congressional District of Michigan includes the areas of Grand Rapids, Cascade Township, Alpine Township, East Grand Rapids, Belding, Lowell, Plainfield Township, Rockford and Sparta.

That's according to Fred Woodhams, spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office. Woodhams says 1.3 million Michiganders visited the polls during the primary, accounting for approximately 20.3 percent of active voters. Active voters are defined by the Secretary of State as people who have voted within the last six years. Woodhams says approximately 17.9 percent of registered Michigan voters cast a ballot Tuesday, but that number may be skewed because people who have moved out of the state may still be registered to vote in Michigan.

Voters across West Michigan are expected to head to the polls Tuesday, Aug. 5 to decide some key issues and races.

Proposal 1 would alter Michigan’s tax infrastructure by eliminating equipment taxes for businesses that already pay taxes every year. A portion of sales tax revenue that goes to the state treasury would be reallocated to local governments to cover the tax revenue loss. Plainfield Township Superintendent Cameron Van Wyngarden says the ballot measure would make Michigan more economically competitive with other states.